LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Lima City Council passed legislation Monday night that would permit the city to spend over a half-million dollars on new body and cruiser camera gear for the Lima Police Department.
As part of the contract with Axon Enterprises Incorporated, the Lima Police Department will receive 60 body-worn cameras and 30 police cruiser cameras with a price tag just under $600,000. A little over $100,000 of that will be covered by a grant received by the Ohio Department of Public Safety Office of Criminal Justice Services. With this investment, councilors look forward to public safety improvements.
"When these cameras are in active use, what we ultimately want to do is what to keep our citizens protected and safe as well as our officers. In the past when we first became and talked about body cams and things of that nature, it was all about accountability and making sure that we had that extra set of eyes that doesn't wink, that doesn't blink, but always stays on to hold every individual as well as our officers, as well as our citizens accountable, but it ultimately makes sure that we, as the officers, as the safety services, we're doing our job and we're representing the best of to our ability of doing what our job description entails," says Jamie Dixon, Fifth Ward Councilor, Lima City Council.
Lima City Council has also authorized Mayor Sharetta Smith to receive funds from the State of Ohio's Recruitment 2024 Grant to help with costs for recruiting new LPD officers.
